DepEd: Exempting teachers' poll pay from taxes up to Congress

The Department of Education (DepEd) said it is supporting the call of public school teachers to exempt from taxes their honoraria from election duties, but added only Congress can do it.

During a Laging Handa briefing, Education Secretary Leonor Briones said the department has appealed for the removal of the 20% tax on election service honoraria, so teachers will get the pay in full. However, she added the decision is not theirs to make.

“Nasa atin ‘yang Internal Revenue Code na lahat ng mga incomes, kailangan may tax. So, ang magre-recommend niyan ay ang Department of Finance kung ano ang kanilang rekomendasyon. Pero dinulog namin ‘yung request kung pwedeng gawing tax-exempt itong mga increase in allowances,” she said.

(The Internal Revenue Code states that all incomes must have tax. The Department of Finance should be the one recommending it. But, we filed a request to have the increases in allowances be exempted from tax.)

DepEd Undersecretary Alain Pascua stressed that the law needs to be amended to allow such tax exemption.

“‘Yang amendment sa batas ay hindi po nagawa ng Kongreso kaya hanggang ngayon, ang ating honoraria at saka allowances ay hindi sila tax exempted,” he said.

Commission on Elections (Comelec) Commissioner George Garcia on Monday said they will help teachers on their appeal for an overtime pay in their duty on election day as well as for the removal of tax on their honorarium.

Garcia said the poll body will look into the appeal of teachers and endorse it to concerned agencies like the Bureau of Internal Revenue.

This came after several teachers trooped to Comelec headquarters, urging the removal of the tax on their election service compensation.

Briones pointed out that they have negotiated with the Comelec and the Department of Budget and Management to increase the allowances given to our teachers who assist in the elections.

“More than a year na kaming negotiate para dito dahil talagang deserving naman ang ating mga teachers sa suporta dahil sila ay nagsisilbi ng bayan,” she added.

(We have been negotiating this for more than a year now because we believe our teachers are really deserving of the support because they serve the country.)

Based on Comelec Resolution No. 10727 promulgated November 2021, persons rendering election-related service are entitled to the following honoraria:

• Chairperson of Electoral Board (EB) - P7,000
• Members of EB - P6,000
• DepEd Supervisor Official (DESO) - P5,000
• Support Staff - P3,000
• Medical Personnel - P3,000

DepEd Undersecretary Anne Sevilla said that aside from the honoraria, those who will serve on the May 9 polls are also granted additional allowances and benefits.

“Magkakaroon ng transportation allowance na P2,000, at meron na rin hong communication allowance na P1,500, at dagdag pa po na anti-COVID-19 allowance na P500,” she said.

(There will be a transportation allowance of P2,000, a communication allowance of P1,500, and an additional anti-COVID-19 allowance of P500.)—LDF, GMA News